Recommendations for the United States Trade Representative 2016 Open Government Plan

May 23, 2016 Emily Manna

Today, OpenTheGovernment.org and eight other open government groups submitted recommendations for the 2016 U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Open Government Plan. 

The recommendations are as follows:

  1. Publish U.S. textual proposals on rules in ongoing international trade negotiations;
  2. Publish consolidated texts after each round of ongoing negotiations; and
  3. Appoint a “transparency officer” who does not have structural conflicts of interest in promoting transparency at the agency.

In the full proposal, the groups argue that “multiple aspects of USTR’s trade negotiation process fail to meet basic standards of transparency,” and point out that several recent European Union initiatives present good examples of what USTR could do to improve transparency. The recommendations also reiterate OTG’s September 2015 letter to USTR, in which groups expressed concern that the agency’s newly-appointed transparency officer also serves as USTR’s general counsel, and to which there has yet to be a response.

Read the full recommendations here. 

 

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